Advent Journey: December 18th
© Michael Livesay-Wright
Questions and Reflections
QUESTION: What do you think the second line of today's poem means when it references a "new ark"?
Of course this is speaking of the ark of Noah we read about on December 8th. (Side note: I just learned that the word for ark used to describe the boat that God used to save Noah and his family is used only one other time in the Bible -- and that is to describe the basket Moses floated in when his mother saved him from death. How cool is that?) The story of Noah is an excellent representation of how damaging sin is and how inevitable the punishment of sin is. Sin demands death. It is a sad reality. So when the people of Earth in the day of Noah did as they pleased, causing horrible destruction all over the face of the earth, God sent a flood. But God always provides a way of salvation. Noah was the only one listening to God and the only one who embraced this way of salvation. But here, as we leave the Old Testament behind and leap into the story of the New Testament, God is going to provide a more perfect ark. In comparison Noah's ark, Moses's miracles, and thousands of sacrifices appear as nothing. God is going to provide a way of hope for humans, a way to escape the slavery of sin and the punishment of death. God is coming!
QUESTION: All throughout the Old Testament there is talk of a coming king, but how would He be different from the other kings?
Much time had been spent by scholars and wisemen trying to interpret what the coming king or "Messiah" would be like. The word Messiah simply means "anointed one." It was common to anoint a king with oil symbolizing that he had been chosen by God for a special position of power. Many people dreamed of a powerful king who would come, more powerful than King David. He would finally right all wrongs and conquer all of the "bad guys." But what was sometimes missed were the many verses in the Old Testament that hinted at the ways the coming king would not be like a usual king...
Isaiah 7:14 says this king would be born of a virgin
Micah 5:2 says he will come from the tiny town of Bethlehem
Zechariah 9:9 says this king will ride on a donkey
Isaiah 53:3 speaks of him being despised and rejected by men
Isaiah 53 also says that there is nothing in his physical appearance to make humans want to follow him
This king will be an unusual one. He will also not seek out the powerful and wealthy. Instead, He will be humble and poor. He will be near the brokenhearted, the sick, and the sinner. This king will renew God's covenant with His people in a whole new way, in a way no one expected.
QUESTION: Do you know the story of Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness?
In the book of Numbers, back when Moses was leading God's people to the promised land, the people time and time again complained against God. In this particular story, after all that God had done to save them from slavery, guide them through the wilderness, and provide them with food, they were saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food" (Numbers 21:5, ESV). In a story of the penalty of sin, God at last sent poisonous snakes among the people. This may sound horrible to you, but remember death always follows sin. And the punishment worked, the people ran to Moses and repented saying, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us" (vs. 7). In a seemingly unusual move by God, He told Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live" (vs. 8). It wasn't, of course, that the snake saved them. Rather, the snake representing their sin was hung on display for them all to see. When they turned in repentance their own penalty for their sin was taken away. The Bible has such rich symbolism. This story is repeated by Jesus Himself (the coming Messiah) when he says, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14, ESV). So the snake in the wilderness would be a symbol of the king to come -- an unusual king and one who would offer the hope of life by becoming the symbol of sin. Such a strange strange story and more marvelous than any we could ever conceive.